Just as there is a Mythic Underworld and Mythic Wilds, why not also cultivate Mythic Oceans? Perhaps when one spends a bit too long aship, or adrift and lost, the Sea begins to change them. Should you find yourself in need of some rather Misfortunate Fates to befall those Adventurers who have spent far too long afloat and away from safer shores, here is a table with a Hundred Ideas. These might also serve as suitable Callous Curses from fickle Kelp Dryads, territorial Sea Hags/Whitecap Wizards, or even something spouted by swindled Cyclopes. They could also be useful as novel Nautical Drawbacks for certain Sea-Themed Magical Items.
For other tables with this sort of Ill-Fated Foreground Growth please see:
In most of my Campaign Settings, I try to emphasize that Magic is a rather Rare and Wonderous thing. You’ll seldom find Arcane Artifacts for Sale in Markets and generally you must locate them through Adventure. But some Settings are slightly less stringent and may make some Magic Items more available than others. You might have your “Ye Olde Magic Shoppe” conveniently franchised in most Settlements, or Characters might be able to purchase some things (like consumables) on occasion from a travelling Alchemist or Witch. Potions are consistently in demand, and a bit of a mainstay in these situations.
They may balk at the Steep Prices for such things, so here is another Option: They might be able to save a little Gold by going with a draught that’s perhaps a little less predictable or has some unusual drawbacks. Here are One Hundred Potions, with a couple ideas for these kinds of “Side-Effects” that might impact their efficacy a bit, result in a more challenging situation, or just simply add a little humor. As for how long these might last, I’d usually go with something Randomized, or maybe a periodic Saving Throw once the Duration is up to return to normal. Usage Dice could be useful here too. Bottoms Up!
Previously touched on briefly in my Encounter Activities of Sprites, I thought it might be fun to produce a full d100 Table of various Minor Magics of an Inconvenient but mostly Inconsequential nature. Many of these are more Petty “Curse-style” Cantrips that could be at the disposal of various Faerie Folk or mined for inspiration for the various japes and escapades that they find so droll.
Should your approach to the Elf Class hail from a more Fairy Tale direction, these might serve as a convivial compliment for them as well, a bit like my Dwarf Dweomercraft and Convenient Cantrips for the Dwarf and Magic User Classes respectfully. Most of these shouldn’t (or at least weren’t intended to) be truly capable of producing lasting harm, but they could most certainly annoy or hinder in amusing and flustering ways. Some may be permitted Saving Throw or such for foiling at the Referee’s Discretion.
I suppose with a little squinting, this Table could also serve a bit of double duty as more ideas to graft on Magical Items to make them a little more frustrating but flavorful, potentially a bit less detrimental than my prior table on those kinds of Drawbacks.
Frustratingly for some participants, within the standard rules for B/X and in other early presentations, there simply isn’t really a way to ameliorate those tragic Levels Lost due to Energy Drain outside of further Adventuring. Interestingly, Experience lost to something like a Cursed Scroll is easily addressed through the application of the Remove Curse Spell, but there isn’t a counterpart for undoing the impact of having one’s neck wrung by a wrathful Wraith or being slapped by a screaming Spectre. This makes for a particular type of attack that ends up being very frightening to Players. It’s one of the few things that creates a bit of ludic bleed when a Monster ends up attacking the very act of Play itself (Rust Monsters and their insatiable hunger for Wonderous Weapons tend to do this too: they’re not necessarily formidable foes but it’s what they do to the Character Sheet that creates more lasting impacts!)
Later versions of the game tend to solve this problem by adding another Spell to Cleric’s Repertoires (Restoration), but this tends to make the loss a little more perfunctory, just a temporary set-back at most, until the Players are able to obtain the services or pray for this Miracle by themselves. This salves some of the sting considerably, but it does almost become a bit more like a Curse in this way.
Sentimental softie that I am, I’ve nearly always provided provisions for regaining this Loss in another way, usually following the rubric of “Rumored Cures.” As I was compiling a list of these, I realized that many of could do a bit of double duty for particularly pernicious Curses as well (the kinds in Fairy Tales, that often require strangely specific Deeds to undo). Some might be more akin to tales of Old Wives or Local Superstitions but I do try to ensure that if my Players end up chasing Wild Geese, there’s at least something in it for them. In these cases, the hope is that there is always Treasure, Fame, and Information to be gained on Adventure after all!
Here are a Hundred potential avenues for alleviation. Maybe they work automatically or perhaps they simply give the afflicted a new Saving Throw chance to remove the condition in question. I tend to leave that more mechanical stuff up to the individual Table and Referee.
The Mythic Overworld can be a dangerous and daunting place. Here’s a companion Table to my “So You Didn’t Make It Out Of The Dungeon?” Hundred, focusing a little more on how those Wild Places might mutate or have a chance to change those who spend a little too long within Her Clutches. Most are akin to Curses, potentially ameliorated by Magic (boring!) or further Adventure (better!). I suppose several could also serve as stand-ins for Magical Mishaps, Consequences for slaking one’s thirst in a Magical Spring, interfering with a Shrine to Local Lesser Deities, the various bewitchments of the Fickle Fair-Folk, those Torments inflicted by vengeful Druids or Wicked Witches, and so forth.
My prior, more Dungeon-centric Table, surprisingly finds far more use as a source of oft-repeated Rumors, wary Warnings, or even the occasional unbidden and potentially Portentous Nightmare. These results could also serve a similar purpose: Eagerly falling from the mouths of those who know better than to stray too far from the safety of Civilization.
I’ve encountered a few of these “Roll-To-Return” Tables that are usually used in conjunction with Open Table/Stable Play. These Sessions are intended to end within a Haven/Settlement in order to facilitate and sustain a shifting Cast of Characters. Most of the time the worst result on these is Death, but I tend to prefer having the experience change a Character in a meaningful way instead, perhaps after taking them “out of commission” for a commensurate amount of time. Sometimes the “Luck of the Draw” means these drawbacks might even end up being boons in the right hands.
Yet another table that had been languishing on the dev pile for far too long! Here we have One Hundred Magical Mishaps or Calamitous Curses to inflict upon the table. Since some games don’t have a “Roll To Cast” system in place, these could also be repurposed for all manner of other unfortunate Eldritch Events. Potion Miscibility is popular, but they may also prove useful for Failed Experiments, Scrambled Scrolls, or Grimoires Protected from Prying Eyes. Some of them make mighty fine Horrible Hexes as well, much more memorable and meaningful than a mechanical malus (that players have a remarkable tendency to conveniently forget to apply!)
Grafting on additional risk to Spell Casting is something I’ve done in the past. However, I feel it works a bit better if it’s accompanied by a correspondingly tempting reward. One that I particularly enjoyed was allowing a thrill-seeking Magic User to choose to roll a Saving Throw versus Spells after Casting, on a success the Spell is retained and they may cast it again. On a failure, the Spell is lost as with normal Vancian magics. On a 1, a Magical Mishap occurs. One can tweak the frequency of these fantastic failures to taste, or potentially even penalize the Save by the level of the Spell or number of prior retentions attempts in a given time-period. When Magic becomes predictable and repeatable, it can sometimes veer toward banality, so this at least tries to maintain a bit of that delicious wonder should one go down this route.
A small amount of effort was put into “tuning” this table a bit, so that smaller die sizes have less “consequential” impacts, so feel free to escalate these however you see fit. What happens with a d6 should be a little less severe than something rolled higher on a d30, with the more disastrous consequences generally occurring only on upper ends of the d100. Durations are occasionally included, but feel free to season those to taste, and as with all misfortunes some just might be possible to undo through additional Adventure.
When it comes to Dungeons, I tend to prefer the more Mythic Underworld approach. Dungeons are terrifying places, where the normal rules of reality can be upended on a whim and are wont to defy the players’ expectations. Dungeons are an organism, and They are quick to mobilize Their immune systems to deal with any foreign bodies.
Sleeping in a Dungeon isn’t recommended. These are already liminal spaces, just like that fluttery moment before you drift off, and falling asleep here provides an easy means of ingress for the Dungeon’s Agenda. This is to say nothing of the fact that it’s bound to be fraught with fitful stops and starts and ultimately unrestful in the first place: with Wandering Monsters keeping everyone on edge and resources dwindling stressfully and steadily over the course of these longer blocks of time. If you must attempt sleep whilst still in the Dungeon, take great care.
Even worse for me though is the mere thought of becoming Lost within a Dungeon. The longer you remain and manage to survive, the more you open yourself up to the changes that They can exert on reality. Like it or not, you can become a part of these spaces the longer you spend in Them.
So, here’s a d100 Table for what happens when someone doesn’t make it out right away. I suppose some of these might also fit the bill for other kinds of Calamitous Curses and such with a skosh of reskinning. I tend to make it clear that all is not lost however, for there should always be provisions or a method to overcome these, especially if this might be tied to further adventures.
CW: For mild body horror, some intimations of mental illness/PTSD, and just general awfulness. Planning forays accordingly might just help one avoid these horrid fates.
